Matt Cross Says He Needs One Four-Minute Match on Raw, Compares Lucha Underground to ECW

– Matt Cross spoke with WSVN-TV for a new interview discussing wanting a WWE shot, Lucha Underground vs. ECW and more. Video and highlights are below:

On Lucha Underground being the modern-day version of ECW: “I was inspired by ECW back in the day, that’s what lit the fire and made me want to pursue this and want to become a wrestler. Fast forward 20 years and I can’t be in ECW but when I think about it in modern terms, I am. This is the new ECW. Nothing has been a genuine, true alternative in 15 to 20 years so I feel like we are that genuine, new thing. It speaks to my style and what I do and what I bring to the table. It’s so exciting because the reigns are off of everyone. The performers, the cameramen, the writers, everyone is just doing what they’re the best at, and having fun, and I think it translates.”

On his Tough Enough season five elimination being a blessing in disguise: “The crazy irony is that if you watch the old episodes of Tough Enough, the executive producer is a guy named Eric Van Wagenen. If you watch Lucha Underground, the executive producer is a guy named Eric Van Wagenen. So I’ll let you put the pieces together. As mad as I am for answering that phone call and doing Tough Enough, I don’t know if I would be a part of Lucha Underground if I hadn’t done it.”

On watching his friends rise to fame in WWE: “All of my friends are in WWE. The crazy thing is that growing up we’re always fed these almost corny, cheesy you can do it type lines and we internalize them to a degree, but they are almost inherently hokey. But I have personally witnessed like a dozen people bust their butts and make it so to me it’s no longer hokey. Like, Seth Rollins just a short number of years ago was sleeping on my floor and making these drives. CM Punk, Johnny Gargano, Owens, Sami Zayn, all of these guys were making crazy drives and sleeping their cars with a dream. My first trip to Ireland was in 2005 and I stayed with a guy named Sheamus. Every night we would stay awake and talk about how badly we wanted to make it to the WWE. It was weird and interesting and inspiring when one guy made it. It was like maybe it’s possible. Now it seems nearly inevitable if you just don’t give up.”

On wanting a WWE shot: “I need one 4-minute match on RAW, you can fire me afterwards if it doesn’t hold up, but I will do 3, 4 or 5 things that no one has done in the ring and I’ve been doing this for 17 years. There are moves that have been stolen of mine and there are moves that haven’t been stolen yet which has to make me think it’s because they can’t be done by anyone else. So I would love that opportunity just to showcase my style. It’s not theoretical like ‘I think I can have a good match with Finn Balor’, it’s like I know I can because I’ve had matches I’m very proud of with like 80% of the roster. It would be nice to do it on that level but with that said I’m very happy to be in Lucha Underground and it’s fun.”